Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Transposition

Chapter 8

"Has Miss Tohsaka left already?"

Shirou blinked at the soft yet firm question his Servant asked as he returned to the dojo after seeing Sakura out. "Hmm," he hummed before nodded. "Yeah, she's gone home."

"I see." Saber said, before rising to her feet and walking to meet Shirou across the dojo. "If I may, Master, you should not push yourself so much, considering your injuries from the previous night."

Shirou blinked in surprise at her concern, and then rubbing at his side smiled and shrugged. "Well, I'm still a bit sore," he admitted. "Actually more stiff than sore, but it's already passing. Tohsaka-san's healing magecraft really is something, I guess, and the rest is up to me."

"I see." Saber said with a nod before narrowing her eyes. "If so, then pardon the discourtesy but I must speak on your actions during the previous night, Master."

Shirou blinked at her sharp tone and expression, and after a moment Saber continued. "I must ask that you not repeat your actions from the previous night here on out." She said sternly. "Battle is my responsibility, not yours. Whether it is to ensure the granting of our desires, or to preserve your life, I would prefer if you entrust it to me, and to focus on what else you can do instead. There is nothing to be gained from actions such as those during the previous night."

Shirou glared at that. "Hey now," he said. "I understand what you're saying, but don't tell me you actually think helping people is wrong."

Saber looked taken aback by that, and with a cough Shirou pulled himself together. "Anyway," he said. "Let's move on to something else. As I understand it, the Holy Grail War is fought between seven Servants and Masters, all so the winner can wish make a wish for the Holy Grail to grant. Thing is…Father Kotomine mentioned 'winner'. As in singular…"

"The Overseer is technically correct then." Saber said with a nod. "But I see what you mean, and it seems he was rather vague in his wording, or perhaps he expected the context to be understood in the sense that the war is fought between seven pairs of Masters and Servants."

Shirou stood silent for a moment, and briefly lowered his face. "Then," he said. "You're also fighting in this so you can have your wish granted by the Holy Grail."

"That is so." Saber said with a nod. "As I said just moments ago, it is my role to ensure our desires are granted, by fighting on the battlefield as your Servant."

Again, Shirou paused in thought for a moment, and then he sighed. "Alright," he said. "I have to you warn you though, if you're going to fight this war as my Servant then your, well our, chances of winning are rather low."

"Are you saying that you lack the will to fight?"

"Of course not," Shirou said, walking past Saber a few steps before turning to face, Saber doing likewise. "It's just that…well, I…"

Shirou sighed and shook his head. "I need to talk with Tohsaka again about this." He thought. "I'm missing out on a lot of details about how this 'war' works, something that priest really should have told me about. Or Tohsaka herself for that matter…then again, I probably shouldn't judge. Between everything's that happened, it must have slipped her mind, and she does have to go home and get ready for school, so there's not much time to talk this morning."

Shirou sighed again. "It's just that," he began. "Well, I didn't really plan to join or even know about this whole business so, well, I wasn't really expecting much less prepared for it, if you get what I mean."

Saber nodded. "I understand." She said. "If so however, then I must simply put additional effort on my part to make up for your deficiencies."

Shirou didn't answer for a few moments, and then he sighed. "I see." He said. "I should have expected that. And I guess it's to be expected, but even so…"

Saber blinked in surprise as Shirou gave a bow of apology. "Sorry," he said. "Even though it wasn't deliberate on my part, I've still placed a burden on you by accidentally summoning you, and in a way disappointed your expectations."

"No, it's alright." Saber said, taken aback. "As it was an accident, I cannot truly put blame on you, even more so given the events surrounding my summoning. Instead, we should focus our efforts on making the best of this outcome, and indeed, it can be said I've put equal burden on you, by involving you in this Holy Grail War."

Shirou blinked at Saber's words, and then rising smiled while rubbing the back of his head. "Good point, I guess." He said. "Though, it's more Lancer's fault than either of ours."

Saber blinked, and then smiled and nodded herself. "Indeed it is." She said.

Shirou made an agreeing sound, and then drawing himself up nodded to himself. "Alright," he said. "I'm still not sure how, but if you're going to put additional effort on your end, then I guess I'll have to do the same on mine, don't I?"

I'm still not sure if I can talk some more with Tohsaka about this, or if she can much less would help, but it's worth a shot.

After all, she did say she didn't want to be my enemy, even if she does have to think about it some more first.

Well, no point recklessly rushing into things…though I'm probably not the best person to say that.

Shirou laughed to himself softly to Saber's surprise, and then patted his side, feeling bandages underneath. "But," he thought. "She doesn't seem like a bad person in any way, so…yeah, I can trust her."

"You can't be serious."

"Oh really?" Sakura said with a clear lack of concern, sitting in front of her drawer running a comb through her hair. "And why not?"

"The kid's going to be a burden, as I've said before." Archer replied. "How he managed to even summon Saber in the first place…"

Sakura rolled her eyes as Archer's thoughts trailed off. "Accidents happen, even among magi." She said. "It's a fact, sometimes an even more dangerous one than those which tend to happen to ordinary people."

"Even so…"

"Besides," Sakura interrupted, placing her comb down on her dresser before walking over to her bed, where she took her uniform vest and put it on. "He's got a functioning Servant, and I don't. No offense Archer, but even if you can take physical form without immediately collapsing, you're still a good way away from complete recovery, and I'm down to my last command spell so I can't just order you to heal."

"And whose fault is that?"

"I have no regrets."

"I thought as much." Archer said with a sigh, and Sakura laughed, patting down her uniform. Walking back to her dresser, she combed her hair again before putting on a small pair of gold and diamond earrings, and tied a bright red ribbon at her brow. "You do realize that Saber's hurt too, right?"

"Not nearly as bad as you." Sakura countered. "So long as we don't fight Berserker again, Saber should be fine. As for sempai's faults…well, I've got something in mind for that."

"I get the feeling I'm not going to like it."

"Maybe." Sakura said with a cheeky grin, which grew as she struck a pose in front of her mirror. "Nice…"

"You'd look even nicer with a cape."

"Hmm…"

"You aren't actually considering it…are you?"

Sakura's response was to lightly touch her mirror, which flickered before showing her in a military uniform of a Prussian cut, black with elaborate silver embroidery and gold epaulettes with a billowing white cape. Sakura promptly doubled over laughing at the sight, the illusion vanishing as Archer intangibly palmed his face.

"No comment."

"It was your idea."

"…more importantly, what will be the terms of your alliance with the kid? Given the way the war works, a blank check isn't a good idea no matter how you look at it."

"True," Sakura admitted, taking her schoolbag before walking out of her room and closing the door behind her. "Well, just leave that to me."

There was silence in the telepathic link, and then Archer sighed. "I knew you were going to say that." He said.

"Just trust me."

"It's not like I have much of a choice now, do I?"

"…neither do I, even if I don't particularly mind this choice."

"…fair enough."

"Will she be alright?" Shirou thought to himself as he walked with Rin towards school after breakfast.

"Hide?" Saber echoed.

"Well, that is…" Shirou fumbled, trying to explain to his Servant who was looking at him with a mix of curiosity and expectation, why she had to stay out of sight in a guest room. "Rin's not a magus or anything like that. She's just a normal girl."

"Emiya-kun, the food's getting cold!" the shout came from the dining room.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a bit!" Shirou shouted back before turning back to Saber. "That's why…I'm sorry to say this, but you're going to have to hide in here until we finish and leave for the day."

"I understand." Saber said with a nod. "You do not wish to involve those close to you but are unaware of the events in this city, and for their sake, I must keep myself scarce, is that not so?"

"I'm really sorry for this," Shirou said with a series of bows. "But, that's how it is."

Saber silently regarded him for a moment, and then nodded again. "As I said," she began. "I understand your reasoning, Master, and I will abide it. Rest assured, I will not hold it against you."

"Alright," Shirou said with a nod and stepping back. "I'll sneak over some food before we leave, but anyway, sorry again."

Shirou sighed rather deeply, drawing Rin's attentions to him. "Deep sighs usually indicate heavy thought." She observed. "Something wrong, Emiya-kun?"

Shirou sighed again, and shaking his head smiled at her. "No, not really," he said. "Just thinking of the school day up ahead. Somehow, I get the feeling it's going to be really heavy for some reason."

Rin raised an eyebrow, but didn't answer at once. "Is that so?" she eventually said with a small smile. "Then let's go with that."

Shirou glanced curiously at her at that, but she didn't say anything more, and after a moment's thought, Shirou thought it better not to pry. Instead, they simply continued their walk to school in silence.

"Hey!"

Shirou jolted, jumping back a step as Sakura greeted him cheerfully, leaning against the wall to one side of his classroom's door, clearly waiting for him as he prepared to leave for lunch. "Tohsaka-san," he said. "Can I help you?"

"Actually, yes you can." Sakura said with a nod. "Care to join me for lunch at the rooftop? We can it talk over something to eat, what I need your help for that is."

"Uh…sure…" Shirou fumbled. He knew she might approach him over the Grail war sooner or later, but he didn't expect it to be this soon. After all, she did say she wanted to think it over some more. But, given it had only been a few hours…that was some quick thinking. "Why not?"

Sakura grinned, and then turning, led the way to the rooftop, shooing away several whispering and giggling girls (and more than a few boys whispering among themselves) at the sight of the two of them, and sighing, Shirou followed. It didn't take long for them to reach the rooftop, and then to Shirou's alarm a bounded field fell into place as Sakura locked the door.

"Relax," Sakura said reassuringly. "It's just to make sure no one walks in on us or listens in. You understand why, don't you?"

Shirou sighed and nodded. "Yeah," he admitted. "I do."

Sakura smiled and walked over to the bench. As for Shirou, he just stood where he was for a few moments, and closing his eyes took a deep breath. Being in the suburbs, the air here was cleaner than might be expected in a city, and between the season and the height of the school building, was surprisingly crisp and cool, the same going for the breeze.

Opening his eyes, he walked over to join Sakura at the bench, and opening his bento box joined her in eating lunch. "So," Sakura said. "How are you?"

"Fine," Shirou said. "Thanks for patching me up again, by the way."

Sakura chuckled softly and nodded. "No problem," she said. "But to be honest, I wasn't sure my efforts last night would be for anything. Berserker hurt you really badly, sempai. Even for a magus, that wasn't an injury that could be taken lightly."

Shirou didn't answer, at least not verbally, just making sounds of understanding. Sakura smiled at them though. "Somehow," she said. "Despite the heavy injuries to your torso and the amount of blood you lost, you managed to hang on. Not only that, but when I started to heal you, I found out you had some sort of healing factor that helped the healing along. I don't know how it works, or where you got it from, but…well, if I had to guess, you might have held out indefinitely with it. Though, that's not necessarily a good thing."

Shirou made an uncomfortable sound at that, though he winced as he remembered the sheer agony from the previous night. "You…have a point there." He said. "If it's as bad as you say it was, then yeah, somehow holding on indefinitely without getting help is rather…well, I'd rather not think about it."

Sakura made a sound of assent, and then the two of them ate in silence for the next few minutes. "Come to think of it," Shirou began. "Could Saber have something to do with the factor?"

Sakura paused at that, and then resuming with a thoughtful frown thought it over for several moments. "I'm not sure how it would work," she eventually said. "But I can't say it's impossible either."

Shirou sighed. "Well," he said. "Unless either you or me get any other idea about where my healing factor's from, it's probably from Saber…somehow."

Sakura nodded slowly. "So once again," Shirou glumly remarked. "I've put yet another burden on her."

Sakura glanced at Shirou as he gave a heavy sigh, and silently turned back to her food for the next several moments. "Don't be too hard on yourself." She finally said. "You're an accidental Master after all. It's not really your fault that you're unprepared for your situation."

Shirou smiled weakly. "Thanks." He said. "She – Saber – said the same thing."

"Then there you go." Sakura said with a reassuring smile. "You now have two people telling you not to blame yourself, so stop being so hard on yourself."

Shirou laughed and nodded. "I get it." He said. "Well, I guess there's no point getting all hung up over it, so let me take your and Saber's advice."

"That's the spirit."

The two of them shared a laugh at that, and again fell into silence, which lasted until they finished their lunches. "Speaking of Saber," Shirou began as he closed his empty bento box. "I actually wanted to talk to you some more about the Servants."

Sakura made a thoughtful sound, tapping a finger against a cheek as she did so. After a few moments, she nodded slowly. "Come to think of it," she said. "In hindsight, me and Kirei were rather…vague, on them, weren't we? Sorry, sempai. It looks like we subconsciously expected you to know more than you really did, despite knowing otherwise."

"It's fine." Shirou said with a raised hand and a smile. "And we're talking right now, aren't we? So…here's a good chance to fill in the blanks."

"Right," Sakura said with a nod. "Okay, what do you want to know?"

"Well," Shirou began. "You've already told me about the command spells and stuff, and why Servants are summoned to begin with, and Saber's also told me that Servants gain a wish of their own like their Masters if they win. I also know they're incarnated Heroic Spirits. So…where do we go from there?"

Sakura nodded in understanding. "Alright," she said. "I see what you mean. Well then, let's go back to the summoning process first. As Kirei told you, Servants are basically Heroic Spirits incarnated as mysteries infinitely close to True Magic. And there's the key point, 'mysteries infinitely close to True Magic'. In truth, the summoning ritual is actually just a means to start and direct a summoning, the summoning is actually performed by the Grail itself. That's because to reach out beyond the World to the Throne of Heroes, and then incarnate the Heroic Spirit in physical form once more…well, there's no way any single magus could possibly pull it off on their own."

"Basically it's like a Grand Ritual then." Shirou said.

"Pretty much," Sakura said with a nod. "It's the reason why the Grail wars have such long intervals between them, the Grail needs to gather prana from the ley-lines running through this land to perform the summoning rituals with."

"I see."

"But," Sakura continued. "Even the Grail has its limitations. Remember, the Grail's mysteries are infinitely-close to True Magic, but aren't actually there. In this case, the Grail can't summon a full-fledged Heroic Spirit itself, much less seven of them. Instead, the Servants are…containers, in a conceptual sense, that limit Heroic Spirits to the point that the Grail can incarnate them."

"I see." Shirou said again, with a nod this time. "I'm guessing it's related to why they're called 'Archer' or 'Saber', is it?"

"Yes." Sakura said with a nod of her own. "Heroic Spirits may only be summoned as a Servant of a class they're suited for. Generally-speaking, the attributes of each class are…"

Sakura trailed off, pausing to hold up a finger. "There's your Saber." She said. "Sabers are…well, technically they're very high-performance jacks-of-all-trades. Balanced in terms of overall performance, but very good in all areas, if outclassed in specialization."

"That makes sense." Shirou said with a nod.

Sakura held up another finger. "There's my Archer." She then said. "Archers are ranged combat specialists…obviously."

"Obviously," Shirou echoed with a grin, a grin that Sakura matched and grew at the mental image sent by Archer of him rolling his eyes.

"Archers are also the most versatile of all Servants, capable of adapting to situations more easily than other classes." Sakura continued before holding up a third finger. "Then there's the Lancer. Lancers are the best-suited for close combat, and are also usually the most agile of the Servants. Then there's the Rider, which usually have average or lower-than-average performance on their own, but tend to balance it out with powerful Noble Phantasms."

"Noble Phantasms?" Shirou echoed.

"Crystallizations of their legends," Sakura explained, lowering her hands. "Usually these are their weapons, armor, equipment, or unique abilities that reflect actions they committed in life."

"I see."

Sakura nodded and continued. "Then there's the Berserker." She said. "These are usually Heroic Spirits who went insane in life, and as Servants are summoned insane. But while this makes them…less than subtle and intelligent, well, it actually gives a huge boost to their raw power. In terms of pure strength, no class is stronger than the Berserker."

Shirou set his face at the reminder of the monstrous Servant from last night, and a moment's thought recalled the legend of Heracles, about how in a fit of madness he killed his wife and children. "That explains how someone like him fits the Berserker Class." He thought.

"Next we have the Caster." Sakura said. "This one is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Casters are the weakest in direct contact…but a key distinction of the class is their usual tendency to wield magecraft beyond those of modern magi."

Sakura paused and shrugged. "Potentially not too useful against other Servants, depending on their level of magical resistance," she said. "But against Masters…"

Shirou nodded grimly. "I get what you mean." He simply said, and Sakura moved on.

"The last class is the Assassin." She said. "The weakest in terms of overall performance…but that's only when matched up against other Servants. You see, this class is specifically meant to target Masters…but you figured that out from the moment I said the class' name, didn't you?"

Shirou lowered his face, and nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I did."

Sakura fell silent, the two magi sitting silently for the next couple of minutes deep in thought, the breeze blowing gently around them. And then Shirou sighed, and looked back up at Sakura. "Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to…well, ruin the mood. But…"

"It's alright." Sakura said with a smile. "I understand."

Shirou nodded and smiled back. "So," he said. "Anything else you can tell me about the Servants?"

Sakura smiled wider at his implied suggestion to move on. "Okay," she said. "I've explained the summoning and the classes so…ah, yes. As already mentioned, Servants are mysteries in themselves. And like all mysteries they require a constant amount of prana to function, or in their case to continue to exist without, well, vanishing."

Shirou's eyes widened at that. "This prana is provided by the Master." Sakura said. "Servants can build up reserves by only using the bare minimum they need to exist, which drops when they stay in astral form, and increases as they use their abilities, heal, use their Noble Phantasms, and things like that."

"But," Shirou said. "That means they're still ultimately dependent on their Masters to exist, aren't they? Once their reserves run out, if they don't get more prana from their Masters…"

"They vanish." Sakura said. "Default defeat…but conversely, even if their Masters are defeated or killed or run out of command spells, a Servant with sufficient reserves can exist without a Master for a time…"

"And if they find a magus with command spells," Shirou finished. "That is, a Master who's lost their Servant, they can make a new contract and rejoin the war. That's what you said last night, didn't you?"

"Yes."

Shirou again lowered his face in thought, but after only a few moments looked back up with an expression of alarm. "About that connection between Masters and Servants," he said. "Can you feel it?"

"Well," Sakura answered with some confusion. "Yes, but it's a very subtle thing…"

Shirou briefly looked away. "Do you think…" he hesitantly began. "Do you think my accidental summoning of Saber…do you think it might mean I can't supply her with prana. I mean, I've always known I don't have much, but…"

Shirou didn't finish what he was saying, but after a moment's thought Sakura gave an answer regardless. "I don't really know, to be honest." She said. "You might want to ask Saber, though. But, if I remember right she did say recovering prana…was…going to be difficult…"

Sakura trailed off uncomfortably, and Shirou sighed and shook his head. "I knew it." He said glumly. "Tohsaka-san, do you…no, never mind."

Sakura briefly opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it in thought. She suspected Shirou was going to ask if she knew how to fix that problem, and while she did, she decided not to bring it up until he did. Which he might…given what she was going to ask of him.

"So…anything else?" Shirou asked.

"One last thing." Sakura said. "Class names are more than just categories based on abilities and such. They're also used to hide your Servant's true identity for as long as possible, because once it's been found out, well, it's all too likely weaknesses that could be taken advantage of can be found out."

"That makes sense." Shirou said only for his eyes to widen and then narrow in realization. "No wait, that girl last night, she…!"

"Yes, I get what you mean." Sakura said with a grim nod and tone. "Normally revealing your own Servant's identity is a mistake of the highest degree, but in Einzbern's case, well, the benefits of revealing who he is could be worth more than keeping it secret. An utterly first-class Servant summoned as Berserker…"

Sakura shook her head. "That crazy little girl is not someone to take lightly." She finished, and Shirou nodded.

Again, silence fell over them, Shirou sitting with his head lowered in thought, while Sakura absent-mindedly looked up and away at the sky. The breeze picked up slightly, whipping through their hair but not badly so, and after several minutes of thought Shirou looked up at the girl sitting across the bench from him.

It was the first time Shirou could look at her closely and while she was relaxed too, and after a moment found himself drawn to her eyes. They were blue, a bright shade rare among Japanese, and usually only among those with foreign ancestry.

Not that it really mattered of course, and more than that Shirou couldn't help but compare it to the clear blue sky, stretching out above and beyond one's reach, and making one wonder at what lay beyond the horizon. And as the breeze slackened, Sakura blinked and blushing slightly at finding Shirou's gaze on her, coughed. "W-what is it?" she asked.

Shirou blinked and coughed himself. "N-nothing," he said. "Anyway, thanks for being so open with me, Tohsaka-san. I really appreciate you telling me all about the Servants."

"You're welcome." Sakura said. "I just…"

She trailed off, briefly looking away as Shirou blinked in confusion. "No, it's nothing." She said. "And, I wanted…that is, to ask you something."

"Huh?"

"Emiya-sempai," Sakura began. "Do you want to be allies?"

Shirou didn't answer in surprise, and Sakura's eyes looked away again before she lowered her face and looked back at him. "You see," she said softly. "My Archer's still not up after getting wounded by Saber…no, I'm not trying to make you feel obliged amends that is…um…"

Shirou chuckled at Sakura getting flustered, causing her to get even flustered some more (and missing a virtually-identical chuckle from Archer). "I don't mind." He said. "As I said earlier, I don't want to be your enemy any more than more than you want to be mine."

"Yes," Sakura said, before giving a cough. "Also, before you bring up something along the lines of 'are you sure you want to be allies with someone like me' or something like that, while we're allies, I'm willing to help you bring your magecraft up to speed so…"

"Well I'm thankful for that, and I'm willing to accept, but…"

"But…?" Sakura echoed.

"As I said, I don't mind." Shirou said. "So you don't have to give up any family secrets to get me to accept. I mean, I know things like those are really well-guarded by magi so…"

"I wasn't going to." Sakura said as Shirou trailed off. "I'm sure there are things I could teach you without giving up any family secrets…I think."

Shirou laughed again, and after a moment Sakura blushed and rubbing the back of her head joined in on the laughter. "With that said though," Shirou said with a somewhat sad expression on his face. "My abilities aside, are you sure you can trust me?"

"Huh?"

"Well, it's just that magi are, well, not very trusting of each other, aren't they?"

Sakura briefly looked away at that. "Yes, that's like us." She said softly.

"So…"

Sakura met Shirou's eyes at that, causing him to trail off. After a moment, Sakura blinked and smiled. "I trust you, sempai." She said, and something about it caused Shirou to blush himself.

"What makes you so sure?" he asked. "I mean, well, no matter what I might say about myself, we barely know each other and…"

"I know I can trust you." Sakura said before giving a cheeky grin. "You're the school janitor, aren't you?"

Shirou blinked and then burst out laughing. Sakura blushed, and weakly laughing, rubbed the back of her head. "I'm not sure whether to be insulted or not," Shirou eventually said. "But, I guess that's a good enough reason."

Silence fell between the two of them, and as it stretched out, Sakure lowered her face while looking hopefully at a perplexed Shirou. "So?" she eventually asked softly.

Shirou blinked and then chuckled. "As I said," he began. "It's fine. I'll have to talk about it first with Saber of course, but I'm sure she'll say yes. So…"

Shirou held out a hand and smiled. "If you want to be allies since you can trust me and need me to help you out," he said. "Then, I'll be your ally. I'll trust you too, just like you trust me."

Sakura stared at the offered hand for a moment, and then with a blush and a small smile took it and shook it. "Thank you, sempai." She said softly, and Shirou smiled wider.

"You're welcome."

A/N

Long chapter, with filler beginning and lots of mandatory detail to fill things out we know but certain members of the cast don't and need to be told for the story to have meat…

…and finally, pairing locked! A bit short to do so especially compared to what came before, and needs lots more work for it to be realized, but it'll do as a start.